MIT Technology Review - CIGShttp://www.technologyreview.com/tagged/cigs/
enNews of Acquisition Caps a Bad Year for Alta Deviceshttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/522721/news-of-acquisition-caps-a-bad-year-for-alta-devices/
<p>The reported acquisition by the Chinese company Hanergy is another sign lean times for Alta Devices, but it could ultimately help the technology.</p><p><a href="http://www.altadevices.com/index.php" target="_blank">Alta Devices</a>, a startup developing lightweight, flexible, and very efficient solar cells, has <a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Sources-Alta-Devices-GaAs-Solar-Startup-Purchased-by-Chinas-Hanergy" target="_blank">reportedly been acquired by Hanergy</a>, a Chinese company that has recently acquired other solar-cell startups at fire-sale prices (see “<a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429430/solar-company-miasole-bought-cheap-by-chinas-hanergy/">Solar Company Miasole Bought Cheap by China’s Hanergy</a>”). Neither company is confirming the report. While Alta Devices has achieved record efficiency in its solar cells, it needs to prove that the technology can be manufactured economically. To do that, the company needs more money, which it has been struggling to raise.</p>Fri, 20 Dec 2013 05:00:00 +0000juniper.friedman522721 at http://www.technologyreview.comInnovation in Manufacturing Takes a Villagehttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/428988/innovation-in-manufacturing-takes-a-village/
<p>For expensive manufacturing research on solar panels and 3-D printing, a new push toward shared pilot production facilities.</p><p>Inside an 18,000-square-foot warehouse in Halfmoon, New York, a town north of Albany, a researcher gingerly lifts a photovoltaic cell from an oven, its glass backing shimmering with an ultrathin coating of exotic metals. </p>Fri, 21 Sep 2012 04:00:00 +0000digitalservices428988 at http://www.technologyreview.comSolar-Panel Giant Poised to Get Even Biggerhttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/426988/solar-panel-giant-poised-to-get-even-bigger/
<p>Solar Frontier, which opened the world’s largest CIGS solar-panel plant, makes plans for more factories.</p><p>One of the world’s fastest-growing solar-panel manufacturers, Tokyo-based Solar Frontier, may soon increase production still more with help from its oil-company-funded parent company, Showa Shell Sekiyu.</p>Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000digitalservices426988 at http://www.technologyreview.comA Twin-Cell Solar Panelhttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/422734/a-twin-cell-solar-panel/
<p>A new design has funding through a White House initiative to develop cheap solar panels.</p><p>A start-up called <a href="http://www.stion.com/" target="_blank">Stion</a> will receive $1 million from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a new type of low-cost, high-efficiency solar panel. The company will use the new funding to make solar panels that combine two types of solar cells, which will allow the panels to efficiently convert a wide range of the solar spectrum into electricity.</p>Tue, 15 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0000digitalservices422734 at http://www.technologyreview.comGE to Make Thin-Film Solar Panelshttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/418142/ge-to-make-thin-film-solar-panels/
<p>Its entrance to the market could help make solar power cheaper.</p><p><a href="http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/solar/en/index.htm" target="_blank">GE</a> has confirmed long-standing speculation that it plans to make <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23030/" target="_blank">thin-film solar panels</a> that use a cadmium- and tellurium-based semiconductor to capture light and convert it into electricity. The GE move could put pressure on <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/business/19095/" target="_blank">the only major</a> cadmium-telluride solar-panel maker, Tempe, AZ-based <a href="http://www.firstsolar.com/en/index.php" target="_blank">First Solar</a>, which could drive down prices for solar panels. </p>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0000digitalservices418142 at http://www.technologyreview.comEfficient Solar Cells from Cheaper Materialshttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/417459/efficient-solar-cells-from-cheaper-materials/
<p>IBM researchers have greatly increased the performance of a novel thin film solar cell.</p><p>Researchers at IBM have increased the efficiency of a novel type of solar cell made largely from cheap and abundant materials by over 40 percent. According to an article published this week in the journal <a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/10008336/home?CRETRY=1&amp;SRETRY=0" target="_blank"><em>Advanced Materials</em></a>, the new efficiency is 9.6 percent, up from the previous record of 6.7 percent for this type of solar cell, and near the level needed for commercial solar panels. The IBM solar cells also have the advantage of being made with an inexpensive ink-based process. </p>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000digitalservices417459 at http://www.technologyreview.comInk-Jet Printing for Cheaper Solar Cellshttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/413389/ink-jet-printing-for-cheaper-solar-cells/
<p>A new printing method could cut costs and produce more-precise features.</p><p>An improved process for making solar cells could allow manufacturers to cut the amount of silicon needed in half. Since silicon can account for about three-quarters of the cost of conventional solar cells, this could significantly lower the price of solar power. The technique can reduce the amount of other materials used and improve solar-cell performance. </p>Thu, 07 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000digitalservices413389 at http://www.technologyreview.comBig Solar Newshttp://www.technologyreview.com/view/409285/big-solar-news/
<p>Nanosolar is shipping printed solar cells.</p><p>Thin-film solar panels that can be printed in high-throughput processes could make solar as cheap as electricity from the grid. Or at least that has long been the promise. But while the panels have shown quite a bit of promise in the lab, they’ve been very difficult to make reliably at a large scale. Indeed, there have been a series of delays from companies developing printed solar panels.</p>Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0000digitalservices409285 at http://www.technologyreview.com